Bears notebook: Hester’s return decline a trade-off

Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said he anticipated Devin Hester’s fall from grace as a kick returner after doubling up as Chicago’s No. 1 receiver.

Matt Trowbridge

Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said he anticipated Devin Hester’s fall from grace as a kick returner after doubling up as Chicago’s No. 1 receiver.

“There has never been a No. 1 receiver and a No. 1 kick returner. If there’s never been one, there’s probably a reason for that,” Angelo said. “We wanted to escalate his playing time and that’s the course we chose to go down, and his returns did suffer.”

Angelo doesn’t regret it because Hester finished with 665 yards on 51 catches in his first full season as a receiver. No other Bears wide receiver had even 450 yards.

“The one thing we know about Devin, and he showed it at receiver, is he is a playmaker,” Angelo said. “When you get a playmaker, you want to make sure you get him the ball the best way you can to make as many plays as he can on Sunday.”

Hester, who smashed NFL records for returns his first two seasons, was benched as Chicago’s kick returner at midseason and finished 23rd in punt returns (6.2 average). Danieal Manning replaced Hester on kickoffs and led the NFL (29.7). Manning will continue to lighten Hester’s load next year.

“His plate was full there for a while,” coach Lovie Smith said Monday of Hester. “We think we have a happy medium for him now as a punt returner and for him to continue to develop as a receiver.”

An invitation to Marinelli

Angelo and Smith both said they would love to bring fired Lions head coach Rod Marinelli to Chicago.

“I think the world of Rod Marinelli,” Angelo said. “I would love to have Rod Marinelli on our staff. He’s a great football coach. Any time you get a chance to get a great coach or a great player, you are not going to say you aren’t going to consider him.”

Marinelli was the defensive line coach for Tampa Bay for 10 years and could become Chicago’s defensive coordinator if Bob Babich is demoted.

Angelo sounds hustle alarm

Angelo praised the Bears for being “a resilient team” that hustled. But not everyone met his standards.

“I can live with a guy not being good enough if they are going hard and giving their best,” he said. “But if they are not playing hard and up to their ability, then that’s on them, and I take that very personally. That will not happen here. I am disappointed in a few players. Those players are going to have to be accountable for what they do. I’m not going to get into names, but that’s the bottom line.”

A message of hope

Angelo doesn’t consider a 9-7 season that misses the playoffs “close” to being good enough, and he said Lovie Smith didn’t mean it when he said it Sunday, either.

“Lovie is a great leader,” Angelo said, “and all great leaders create hope. He does not want anybody, our fans or our players, ever thinking that there isn’t hope. That’s what he meant.”